This invention relates to a control device for a vending machine and a gift certificate for use in the vending machine and, more particularly, to a gift certificate with an improved system of recording money amount information.
A gift certificate is generally used on the condition that it is exchanged in its entire face value with an article (single piece or plural pieces) of a price equivalent to the total face value of the gift certificate. In a case where a gift certificate is used in a vending machine, however, it is desirable that more flexibility should be introduced in the manner in which it can be used. One problem arises when an article is out of stock in a vending machine. Since a warning lamp indicating that an article is out of stock is not lighted unless the article is entirely out of stock, if a gift certificate capable of purchasing plural pieces of the article in package is deposited when only one piece of the article is left in the vending machine, it is physically impossible to dispense the article by such system according to which vending of the article corresponding to the total face value of the gift certificate in package is made. It is therefore necessary for using a gift certificate in the vending machine without trouble to discard the idea of using it for vending in package and adopt a system capable of permitting more or less free vending within the range of the face value of the gift certificate.
In this case, if vending not reaching the face value of the gift certificate has been made, difference should be returned as change. If, however, vending requiring payment of change is permitted without limitation in using a gift certificate, it will readily bring about shortage of change coins in the vending machine.
It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a control device for a vending machine for use of a gift certificate which has eliminated the above described problem and also provide a gift certificate for use in a vending machine which can be used advantageously for overcoming the above problem. More specifically, it is an object of the invention to enable vending for a partial amount of the face value of the gift certificate and paying difference as a change so that, if a gift certificate corresponding to the number of pieces of an article exceeding the number of the article available for dispensing has been deposited when the article is nearly running out of stock, the amount of money corresponding to the undispensable number of the article is not forfeited without vending while occurrence of shortage of change coins which tends to occur readily in such partial vending is prevented.